


Get it Off Your Chest

by AnonEhouse



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Gen, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Near Death Confession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 22:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4366763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this AU, the Avengers stayed together after defeating the Chitauri invasion, but there's always someone wanting a bite out the Big Apple.</p><p>Tony thinks he's dying and wants to unburden himself to Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Get it Off Your Chest

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

"Steve," Tony said weakly.

"Hush. Save your breath," Steve told him, leaning harder on the blood-soaked rag he was holding to Tony's wounded leg.

"No, no, Steve, I gotta... I gotta confess." Tony clutched at Steve's arm for a moment, then his hand fell laxly at his side.

The other Avengers stood in a circle around them, looking outward, trying to give them what privacy they could without exposing them to danger. The battle was over, but the creatures had proven tough, and wily enough to play dead. That was how one of them had lured Tony close enough for it to use its metallic lobster claws to tear open his suit. Steve had severed the claw with his shield, but the damage had been done.

"There's nothing you have to confess. You're a good man, Tony." Steve's voice wasn't quite steady. There was a lot of blood on the ground, and judging by Tony's pallor, not enough inside him. "Save your strength."

"Oh, oh, I know what that means," Tony said, smiling weakly. "I can't... I've waited too long to tell you."

"Rest, Mister, that's an order," Steve said, in the least 'Captain America Says' voice ever. It sounded more as if he was begging.

"I never... I never meant to hurt you, Steve."

"I know. It's all right, it's fine."

"I just..." Tony paused to breathe heavily. "Sorry, I was a little woozy there. Haven't touched a drop, I swear!"

"I know, Tony." Steve ran the fingers of his free hand through Tony's sweaty helmet hair.

"I have poor impulse control. Great ideas, but poor impulse control."

"I know." Steve kept petting Tony's hair, and holding the rag in place. It was like a horrible version of the brain hemisphere communications test where you pat your stomach with one hand and rub circles on your head with the other hand.

"But I really, really didn't mean to hurt you. I have to confess." 

"All right, you can tell me," Steve said.

"I programmed the laundry to shrink your undershirts and your t-shirts."

Steve blinked. The Avengers shifted. Steve heard Clint mutter, "I didn't see that coming." Tony was looking up at Steve, wide-eyed and gray under his tan. 

"I know they pinched your arms. I'm so sorry. It was... a cheap trick. In my defense, Phil did it first." Tony fluttered his hands. "Abs. America's Abs..." He closed his eyes and went limp. 

Steve quickly checked for a pulse at Tony's throat. It was there, but weak and unsteady. Steve lifted his head and shouted, "Where the hell's that medic?"

***

"Tony hates hospitals," Steve said conversationally, as the Avengers sat in the waiting room. His eyes were fixed on the door. "So do I. They're always too cold." Someone handed him a paper cup. It smelled like hot chocolate. He drank it without looking at it. "He's always there when I wake up, though." Someone took the empty cup from him.

The door opened and Steve stood up to face the doctor who'd entered the room. "Mr. Stark came though the operation quite well and is showing remarkable progress since the transfusion. I feel confident of a full recovery. He's been transferred to post-op and you'll be notified when he regains consciousness."

"Thank you, doctor. I'd like to wait in the room with him." Steve had showered at the hospital and changed into a t-shirt and slacks borrowed from a sympathetic nurse, but the way he said 'like' made it obvious this was Captain America and he was only asking to be polite. "He's had bad post-operative experiences," Steve said simply. "It helps if he can recognize someone."

After a moment the doctor nodded. "I'll have a nurse come for you once they've got him settled." The doctor nodded again and left. 

Steve turned to the other Avengers. "I'll see you back at the Tower, later."

"Steve," Bruce took Steve's arm to make him pause. "What Tony said, about the shirts."

"Yes?" Steve's brow crinkled in confusion. "What about the shirts?"

"You know what he really meant by that." 

Steve nodded. "Yeah. He likes my nipples." Steve gently plucked Bruce's hand from his arm. "The other thing? He told me that, months ago." Steve's smile was soft and his eyes reminiscent.

"That's... that's good, Steve," Bruce said.

"Yeah," Steve said. "It's good. We're good."

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for my Cap-Ironman Bingo card, for the "Near Death Confessions" square.


End file.
